Speed to Be 1st American at F1 Since 1993

By STEPHEN WADE, AP Sports Writer
Tue Dec 6, 6:43 PM ET


LONDON - An American driver is back in Formula One racing for the first time in more than a decade.

 
Scott Speed, a 22-year-old Californian, was chosen Tuesday to drive next season for the Scuderia Toro Rosso team. He's the first American in the series since Michael Andretti in 1993.

"I'm very serious about establishing myself in Formula One as one of the talented guys out there

I'm happy to hear he got the ride.  :)  I'm not happy that now that's all Bob Varsha will be yammering on about throughout the whole F1 season.  ::)
Let's all hope he does better than that Andretti chap did back in the 90's.  :-X He's up against some pretty high talent.

It's cool that an American got into F1...but you know what I wonder about F1 drivers...could they have the cojones to race three or four-wide with 42 other drivers who do not necessarily care about what certain individuals do on the track and when it's time to race don't care if they're teammates,sometimes?..guys like Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Elliott Sadler, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray...Yeah I know that Stewart, Gordon, and Kasey Kahne come from open-wheel style racing..but a NASCAR stock car is a different type of race car...800 horsepower and heavier than an open-wheel racer...these are not all that easy to control even with the best of track, tires, and race-day weather conditions.

Yes I respect that an American is now in Formula One, but my idea of racing is Nextel Cup. I've said in earlier racing posts about why F1 does not interest me all that much.
To each their own though.Any racing fan is cool with me.

Yeah I know that Stewart, Gordon, and Kasey Kahne come from open-wheel style racing..but a NASCAR stock car is a different type of race car...800 horsepower and heavier than an open-wheel racer...these are not all that easy to control even with the best of track, tires, and race-day weather conditions.

Apparently you didn't watch "Gordon/Montoya Tradin

It's cool that an American got into F1...but you know what I wonder about F1 drivers...could they have the cojones to race three or four-wide with 42 other drivers



I'm pretty sure they have these 'cojones' you speak of ;) to reach f1 as a driver is the top of ladder, there is nowhere else to go but down. And to compare the 2 is beyond apples and oranges.

It is great news about Speed, I've watched him this past season a little bit in gp2. With the team he's going to he'll likely be running around the back of the pack, but to prove himself all he has to do is beat his teammate.

It is great news about Speed, I've watched him this past season a little bit in gp2. With the team he's going to he'll likely be running around the back of the pack, but to prove himself all he has to do is beat his teammate.

True, true. Too many people forget that racers such as Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher 
started at the bottom and climbed the "ladder" to the top. There ain't no free rides in F1, no "lucky dogs" either. On another note, it's sad that Eddie Jordan will be gone since he was a major factor in giving promising drivers the chance to develop.

  it's sad that Eddie Jordan will be gone since he was a major factor in giving promising drivers the chance to develop.


right about Eddie, also Peter Sauber will be missed, his team was bought by BMW and will be a full factory team, which is very positive.

I'm pretty sure they have these 'cojones' you speak of ;) to reach f1 as a driver is the top of ladder, there is nowhere else to go but down. And to compare the 2 is beyond apples and oranges.

It is great news about Speed, I've watched him this past season a little bit in gp2. With the team he's going to he'll likely be running around the back of the pack, but to prove himself all he has to do is beat his teammate.
Sorry if I sound ignorant, but I am just a NASCAR nut...
If you honestly wanna talk about real cojones and major speed/horsepower....NHRA is cool. and oh yeah, all those bada$$es who race true 'supercars' on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

If you honestly wanna talk about real cojones and major speed/horsepower....NHRA is cool. and oh yeah, all those bada$$es who race true 'supercars' on the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Must watch NHRA, I'm a nitro-nut. Burns the eyes and throat, vibrations from the engine beat against your chest, under 5 seconds of hang on for your life brute horsepower..YeeeeHaaaaa  ;D
Frankly I always got big butterflies every time I pulled up to the staging beam in my lowly 11 second Chevell SS. I don't know how those pro-class guys do it.

Sone of my favorite racing is on dirt. You wanna talk cojones? Look no further than the World of Outlaws series. These guys are going 3 or 4 wide at 120 mph on 1/3 and 1/4 mile dirt tracks in cars that weigh 1200 lbs and put out 800 hp. I like to think that I'd have the balls to strap myself into a race car, but I don't think I'd ever be crazy enough to go near an Outlaw sprinter. (Don't forget, TonyFan, that's where your boy got his start. ;)
  I enjoy all kinds of racing, and I think that all forms of it require basically the same kinds of skills, when you really get down to it. You know what I'd really like to see? I'd like to see a motorsports equivalent of the Olympics, where you have the top drivers from each country competing in different events (road courses, paved and dirt ovals, rally stages, 1/4 mile drags, etc). Do it once every 4 years, like the regular Olympics, and see who the best really is once and for all! 

Sone of my favorite racing is on dirt. You wanna talk cojones? Look no further than the World of Outlaws series. These guys are going 3 or 4 wide at 120 mph on 1/3 and 1/4 mile dirt tracks in cars that weigh 1200 lbs and put out 800 hp. I like to think that I'd have the balls to strap myself into a race car, but I don't think I'd ever be crazy enough to go near an Outlaw sprinter.